The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

Genre: Dystopian/Thriller/Horror
Rating: 5+ stars

This is one of the best books I have read recently, and I enjoyed it even more than the first book in the series.
It was totally full of action and surprises from the very first page. There was almost never a dull moment, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. If I would have been able to, I would have read this in one sitting (super rare for me to be that interested in a book.) I think the pace, the writing, and the storyline were all more interesting than the first book (and I LOVED the first book!)
I am pretty perplexed by all the negative reviews. I suppose people were disappointed that we didn't get all the answers about WICKED? We did get quite a lot of new information in my opinion, and I didn't have any expectation that this would truly resolve the storyline since it is book two of three in a series. Now, if James Dashner pulls a Lemony Snicket and things don't get resolved, I am going to majorly ticked off. But I am confident things will wrap up well in the Death Cure. I'm more than eager to get started on that one.
I bought a few more books from this author. I love how unique this series is, and I can tell that his writing has improved since the first book. :-)

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Woven by Bree Moore

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Genre: Arthurian Fantasy
Rating: 4.5/5

This book ties together three main stories from Arthurian legend: Guinevere's story, the story of Sir Gawain (changed to Gerek) and the Green night, and the story of the Lady of Shallot (Elaina of Astolat). We get to see Arthur's rule and Lancelot's betrayal through their eyes. Each has a unique perspective, and each person's story comes together near the end of the book to create an amazing tale.    
This book is beautifully written. I was drawn in from the first page and had no difficulty wanting to pick it up and keep reading.
I have not heard or read any fiction about the Lady of Shallot legend outside of the Anne of Green Gables movies (and of course the original poem), so that aspect of the story was new and different for me. Being trapped in a tower and forced to weave for decades is strangely interesting, although I did find myself wondering what the purpose of it was. What do they do with all the tapestries? Elaina has good character growth. She is certainly weaker in the beginning, but by the end of the book she has grown considerably.  
I love the Gerek storyline because the struggle is very relatable. He is a man who is trying to follow his passion of becoming a knight, sacrificing time with his wife and children as a result. His marriage is deteriorating, and Lancelot treats him like dirt. In fact, Gerek is the only one who seems to be able to see Lancelot for the snake he is. I really love how Gerek's story is told and how he experiences redemption and lots of character growth.
Guinevere's story was a roller coaster. So much happened to this poor girl -- it was a rough ride. I began by not really liking her that much. She seems kind of spoiled and shallow, but as the story progresses, she really becomes a much stronger character. SPOILER The multiple personalities thing was a bit confusing to be honest, but I tried to just roll with it, and it made more sense as the book went on. END SPOILER I began to root for her more and more. Even knowing what was going to happen with her and Arthur, their tragic story still made me a bit sad.
Overall, I am very impressed with this book and have already purchased the sequel. I do read fantasy, but I have not read a lot about the Arthurian legends. This book is a unique and refreshing take on the stories. I do think the reincarnation/mind enchanting aspects of the book make it a little unnecessarily complicated, but if you stick with it despite some of the confusing things, it turns out to be a fascinating story.
Trigger and spoiler warning: There is a LOT of attempted rape and actual rape that happens in this book. I thought it was handled realistically and inserted into the story with purpose rather than for shock value though. And it was in no way taken lightly.

Learning All the Time by John Holt

Genre: Child Psychology/Development
Rating: 5 stars +


I have a few books by John Holt, and I believe this one is my favorite. It contains a mixture of advice, observation, speculation, and anecdotes. The organization of it is helpful and logical -- it starts out with chapters for major areas of learning such as reading and writing, math, science, and music, then goes on into some more general information about learning.
The concepts, as many others have pointed out, are mostly very intuitive. Holt does challenge "traditional" schooling often, and some of what he says is a little shocking at first, but upon further thought, the reader will likely come to understand that he is very much correct.
There were numerous things throughout the book that I was nodding vigorously in agreement with throughout.
One thing he said stuck out to me: "...I don't like being around people who act and talk as if their mission in life is to educate me, whose relation to me is always that of teacher to pupil." I DO know people like that, and I choose to limit my time around them. As an editor and tutor myself, I don't go around correcting adults, because that's not my place. Why then do we as parents think that we have to correct children on everything ALL the time? One of the biggest nuggets of wisdom I have taken from Holt's books is that mistakes are meaningful. Children rarely make truly random mistakes; they often give us insight into how they are developing. Instead of jumping on them every time they do something wrong, we can choose to respond differently (or not at all).
My daughter often mispronounces certain words, and I used to get irritated and correct her, but then I read How Children Learn. In this book, Holt described many situations where children continued saying words wrong (or writing words wrong, etc.) for years before suddenly saying them right. It was Holt's belief that the children probably know how to say these kinds of words correctly but don't for a few reasons. Long story short, I have stopped correcting so much in our regular everyday life (and even as much in "scholastic settings" -- we just started kindergarten this fall). I am glad I have read these books. They have been incredibly insightful.
That being said, I don't agree with absolutely everything. I do think a lot of how he views how children think may not be completely accurate for every single child. I think it depends on temperament. I don't believe that every child has an innate aversion to adults helping them (although, I'm not a child psychologist, so maybe this is true of a certain age?). Sometimes his advice seems limited because he says not to do something but does not offer any advice on what to do instead. When I came upon those kinds of things in the book, I kept wishing he were alive so that I could email him. I would be writing to him all the time! It's such a tragedy that he's no longer with us. He did offer a select few games/activities that can be used (such as a spelling flashcard game on page 37 of my version) and I tried to mark those for use later.

I wish every parent would read this book. It's not very long, but it has some really valuable insight.

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The Vernal Memory by J.N. Chaney

Genre: Sci-Fi/Dystopian
Rating: 4.5/5

In the conclusion to this series, Terry is with the group of rebels known as Garden, along with Lena Sol, a former analyst of Everlasting. When Jinil learns that Terry's sword is made of one of the only materials that can defeat the sentinels, they go on a mission to secure more of it.
Meanwhile, Mei and her team are working hard to enhance the Lantrix inoculation to make a more permanent cure to Variant. When Mei goes missing, John begins to question everything about Everlasting. As more and more attacks occur, John, Mei, and Terry must continue to fight for survival and decide who they can trust.

I have loved every moment of this series, and this book is no exception. It was a quick read for me, but maybe that's because I was so excited about finding out what happened. Thinking back on the development of the characters and plot, it's amazing to see how far everyone has come. Terry, John, and Mei have gone from isolated children to explorers of not only one world but two.

There were still questions that were unanswered (For example, why were the two worlds so genetically similar? Especially since they are not only different planets but presumably different universes?), but I think every good sci-fi book does that to an extent. The Variant characters seem very strong but also very similar in the way they think and act. I thought the addition of the people of Everlasting at this point in the series was wonderful -- especially Master Gel (we needed a good villain at this point in the series!) I thought Ludo and Ysa were charming, and the other "natives" were wonderful as well. This is such a rich world with so much potential. I do think it was a good place for the series to end, and it allows me to imagine things afterward, although I would have loved to see a reunion between Terry and his family. SPOILER: It thrilled me to see that not only did they continue in their search for knowledge on Kant but also on Earth as well after Everlasting fell.

A wonderful ending to a wonderful series that I would recommend to anyone interested in dystopian or sci-fi. I look forward to reading more from this author. 

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Hope Everlasting (Book 3 in the Variant Saga) by J.N. Chaney

Genre: Dystopian/Sci-Fi
Rating: 5/5

John and Mei have just found a way through the portal onto Kant and have set up a base. As they and their teams begin to explore, they find strange and dangerous wildlife but see no intelligent life at first. Meanwhile, Terry and Ludo go in search of Ysa after escaping the prison. They connect with Ludo's son and head toward the temple where Ysa has been taken.
We are introduced to the elite population of Kant in the city of Everlasting. Their city seems perfect, but it is really?
Can Terry's friends find him? Can Terry and Ludo save Ysa?
There is something about this series that fascinates me to my core. I took a bit of a break between book two and this one, but I found myself thinking about it often. It's such an interesting blend of dystopia, fantasy, and sci-fi. The author is creative, and this world is very immersive. I'm longing for a reunion of Terry and his friends, but this story just keeps expanding. It's written and edited well. I'm very eager to see what happens in the last book. :-)

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Shadow Play by Jill Ramsower

Genre: Fantasy/ Paranormal 

Rating: 4/5 stars

Rebecca is living in New York when she starts thinking seriously about a career change. When her application is accepted at a museum in Belfast, Ireland, she and her best friend and roommate, Ashley, hop on a plane. Immediately, Rebecca starts encountering strange men and even more surprisingly, strange creatures. She is soon thrown into the world of Fae, meeting people who tell her strange, wonderous, and sometimes conflicting things. Where does she fit into all of this? Can she survive among the monsters?

I picked up this book because I am in a Karen Marie Moning dry spell at the moment after finishing High Voltage. I thought I would give it a try since it's set in Belfast. I did find the beginning to be very similar to the KMM books. (Girl from America comes to Ireland and discovers the world of Fae) but the similarities do seem to lessen as the story progresses. The first third or so of the book has a paradoxical combination of a fast/choppy pace while actually being quite slow. It is understandable since it's the first book in the series. It does pick up though, and I really enjoyed how the Fae lore seemed ubiquitous throughout humanity's history -- including Arthur, Guinevere, and Merlin, Tatiana and Oberon, and other historical figures (which makes sense since Fae are immortal). There were a few new types of Fae that I had never heard of, and the sexual tension between the main character and the two hunters was done well.
That being said, the editing does need some work. This book has a lot of potential if some of the issues can be fixed. I thought that there was a bit too much that was "in-your-face" explained when it didn't have to be, but there was actually a lack of physical scene-setting descriptions. I have no real idea of what Belfast is like after reading this book, and that is something I would have loved to have gotten a feel for.

I do think I will read the next one!

Death's Primordial Kiss by Romarin Demitri

Rose and Helaine are given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try out to initiate into the London Coven. They are best friends and have dreamed about getting in as the Water and Spirit witches. The only problem is, the positions open are Fire and Water. Will their friendship survive the tryouts? And if they make it into the Coven, will they be able to make it to coronation?

I've been really fascinated by witches ever since watching AHS Coven, and so I jumped at the chance to read this book. One of the most interesting things about this book to me is that it has a lot of discussions about the source of power and how it is channeled/handled. The different planes and dimensions of existence are mentioned, and the witches talk about where powers can be channeled from--and it's slightly different for each element. The way magic is handled in this book is very unique in my opinion. They do talk about "controlling it," but they also talk about elements "choosing" them. There are challenges/attainments to complete. This system of magic is very organized and incredibly rich. People can also have different abilities without being an elemental witch; there are other races such as Lusians and Spriggans that appear.

There were definitely some jaw-dropping moments in this book, and I feel like this book just got deeper and deeper. The relationships were well-written. The main characters had a wonderful friendship, and I found the POV changes to be helpful and insightful rather than annoying. The Coven members Maddi, Gregory, and Stan were all fascinating to read about, though I would have liked to know more about the two ousted Coven members (maybe in the next book?) I particularly loved the evolution of Rose and Stan's relationship. Like other reviewers, I am hoping they chuck their inhibitions and get together <3
I did like Rose better at first (I was rooting for her to get in as Water), but I can honestly say that I love both the main characters equally for their own reasons after reading the whole thing. Helaine was harder for me to relate to, but I ended up loving her storyline, and I am eager to see her succeed.

I often judge books by how they make me feel as I'm reading them, and this one was absolutely engrossing--it made me happy to read it. I got to the end and felt a surge a disappointment that the next book wasn't immediately available. This is a universe that I want to immerse myself in for sure! Great job, Ms. Demetri!

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